Strategic partnerships is at the root of everything we do at TLC. By partnering with a complementary brand and/or venue, companies can leverage each other’s resources and bring mutual value to both brands, driving each other’s objectives.
Strategic partnerships go beyond traditional marketing, providing a symbiotic relationship that enhances reach, customer engagement, and revenue growth. These collaborations allow brands to create compelling offers, exclusive experiences, and personalised rewards, resonating with target audiences and driving sustained engagement.
A partnership allows a brand to provide their customers with rewards that wouldn’t necessary be readily available to the consumer. It enriches the offering of any party involved.
This blog explores the benefits of strategic partnerships marketing, and using the correct rewards to boost campaign engagement, showcasing TLC’s unique approach to driving mutual success through brand & small business partnerships.
Brand partnerships have many benefits, particularly when it comes to boosting a business’s profile. In the most obvious sense, it’ll bring the potential of getting in front of each other’s audiences.
So, how can this benefit big brands, and lesser-known brands equally, and what are some ways businesses can use them to their advantages?
Each partner has something to gain from working together:
Access to a wider audience
When one brand partners with another, they get access to a new group of customers. They have the potential to double their reach and more, reaching a customer base they wouldn’t have access to before.
Case Study: Doritos x Empirical spirits
Empirical Spirits dreamed up this magical creation by a happy accident. In the early days of production, their co-founder was testing just how much flavour they could preserve with their unique distillation process. When a colleague returned from their lunch run with a bag of cheesy Doritos in tow, co-founder, Lars Williams’s instinctive reaction was to test the process with the crisps.
The product took everyone by surprise. Tasters say it takes just like the real thing and in a somewhat bizarre result, it tasted good! The taste is described as: Nacho cheese, corn tostada, umami, hint of acidity
The product is sold out online.
This unexpected alliance attests to the power of a partnership with brands that don’t necessarily go together. This can expand the potential of reaching new audiences. The existing audience of the other brand, yes, but also a whole new audience through press generated around unusual pairings.
A new sales channel
Partnering with a brand can give a new sales channel that you don’t already largely operate in.
Case Study: Pokémon x Van Gogh Museum
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum, Pokémon and the Museum launched an official collaboration to introduce new audiences to the work of Vincent van Gogh.
Finding a connection between the two with their mutual appreciation and derivation from Japanese art and culture, both brands benefitted from this alliance. The collaboration included activities in the museum, competitions and bespoke, exclusive merchandise.
Pokémon’s sales plan probably didn’t include art museums as a channel for distribution, but thanks to this partnership, exclusive Van Gogh x Pokémon merchandise became available in the Museum Shop, while these Pokémon-esque Van Gogh pieces were available to buy via The Pokémon centre.
Brand awareness and exposure
When you partner with other organisations, you have a better opportunity to get your branding noticed which creates organic curiosity. Working with a bigger brand and larger customer base means that when they start promoting your brand you’ll get more attention, but also more likely to attract other organisations to work with.
Reputation + credibility
A stamp of approval when working with a well-known brand, or established organisation. As a lesser-known brand, pairing with a household name creates trust. For example, when purchasing something from a new vendor online, seeing that secure option to pay through PayPal or Apple Pay, always add sense of security that comes with a familiar and already trustworthy brand. It’s also about trusted brands risking their reputation. If you see a celebrity or influencer endorsing a product, you’re likely to place more trust on that product, not just because you like that person, but because it’d be risky for them to endorse a product they don’t believe in.
Shared goals & values
Charitable and environmental/social partnerships are a frequently taken route when looking to hone in on their corporate social responsibility. When businesses want to boost their charitable work, partnering with a brand who already know what they’re doing in that regard can be beneficial.
Case Study: Levi’s Forest
Take a look at this Levi’s Earth Day campaign.
Levi’s already had solid sustainable messaging and practices, but in order to spread awareness of this, the Levi’s Forest was created. Centred around Earth Day and World Water Day, Levi’s planted one tree for everyone who downloaded the Levi’s 247 app. This resulted in 130,000 trees planted and over 4,400 tonnes of CO2 offset, and increased awareness of their brand sustainability purpose.
Perfect Partnerships
In the vast history of brand partnerships, there have been some seamlessly smooth, brilliantly bizarre, and just plain genius pairings. Here are some of our favourites:
Lush x Shrek
You may have heard that ‘clean girl aesthetic’ is out, but Lush are paving the way for a new trend – Swamp Aesthetic.
Yes, you heard that right. The skincare and cosmetics brand’s latest partnership is with Shrek.
This newly launched range features Get Out Of My Swamp shower slime, Shrek bath bomb, Donkey bath bomb and Fiona shower gel. The collab began with an exclusive 72 in-app launch to create enough buzz before the products launched in store yesterday.
This quirky partnership is sure to grab attention!
KFC x Crocs
Fried chicken and comfortable, breathable shoes do not exactly go hand in hand.
Despite the slightly bizarre product of this match – a fried chicken patterned croc, including a clip-on fried chicken accessory that supposedly smells of the famous 11 herbs and spices blend – it certainly grabs attention.
Covered by the likes of Hype Beast, Complex etc. this unlikely duo brought lasting attention to both brands, with the product selling out.
Nike x Apple Watch
Nike and Apple teamed up to create the Apple Watch Nike, ‘making strides together’
Nike Run Club is integrated into the Apple Watch, both products enhancing the other to create a better compound result. The tech of the watch enables better tracking through Run Club, and Run Club provides built in workout experiences, that enhance the user experience when using the watch.
